A Complete Rewatch: One Tree Hill

I Shall Believe, the fourteenth episode of One Tree Hill, centres around what happens straight after Lucas' and Keith's car accident. They both are in the hospital, and Lucas, after surgery, is plunged into a coma with his friends and family by his side, waiting for him to wake up. Karen has come back home from Italy and is surprised and destabilised when she finds her son in a hospital bed, with a tattoo and a girlfriend she has never met before. She is also upset as it transpires that Keith consumed alcohol before driving to the airport to meet her.

BEHIND THE TITLE.

This episode is entitled I Shall Believe after a song by Sheryl Crow, a song which also happens to be played at the end of the episode. The lyrics are pretty straightforward with the episode and talk about needing someone to say the things you need to hear, and you will believe they are right and things will get better, which is what every character needs in 1x14, as they hold a vigil for Lucas at the hospital, waiting for him to wake up. The line "Please say honestly you won't give up on me / And I shall believe" sums up the forty minutes we are about to watch (or we have just watched) pretty well. Love in the general sense of the term is a recurring theme as well, and lines such as "I'm so heavy tonight / But your love is alright" and "I know it's true / No one heals me like you" depict this in a lovely manner. The key to everything, and especially what is shown as the key to Lucas waking up, is love, care, and attention.

GENERAL OPINION.

I love how this episode presses pause on everything and manages to be unbelievably optimistic despite the heavy subject at hand. Yes, at the start, we have no idea whether Lucas will wake up or not, but there is no doubt he won't. You just know he will, and the only thing left to do for everyone is to wait, hope, and put all their care and love into this. It feels like a break in the middle of everyone's drama, though Deb and Dan's impending divorce is bubbling up in the background. It feels like nothing matters, the arguments, the differences, the cheating, the clandestine tattoos. All that matters is love. And it's rare to watch an episode of a show set in a hospital, for the most part, with a teenage character in a coma, and feel so much comfort at the end of it.

SOUNDTRACK

- Swingset Chain by Loquat

- Higher Than The Sun by Susan Calloway

- Come Home Delilah by The Squirts

- The Getaway by The Red Thread

- I Shall Believe by Sheryl Crow.

QUOTES

There are very few light-hearted quotes in this episode, for good reason, but it always makes me chuckle that, when Peyton and Jake see everyone draw on the Rivercourt for Lucas, Peyton finds it in herself to say: "Who knew Tim could spell, right?" It's the tiny speck of comic relief needed in such a heavy episode, and it's perfect.

THE LITTLE THINGS

There are very few in this episode, as the plot is developing in mostly one set, but I have to ask one thing: what time does Dan's dealership close? Do American people buy cars really late at night? Or does the sun set early in North Carolina? Because Cynthia Price, Deb's attorney, seemed to be visiting Dan's workplace pretty late in the evening.

Though it mostly happened in the previous episode, it's worth mentioning that the doctor who welcomes Dan and Lucas at the emergency room declares Lucas will need surgery even though he has barely even glanced at him. In I Shall Believe, when Dan is explaining himself to Karen, he says "they handed me the consent forms," but as we could see when they arrived at the hospital, no one handed anyone any forms, and he allowed the doctors to proceed by simply saying Lucas was his son.

I also have a hard time believing no one would check whether Keith is actually Lucas' father. The nurse asks him about the payment discrepancy in the bill and calls him his father, he doesn't contradict her and heads to the payment office, and no one bats an eyelid.

Imagine how much time it must have taken Peyton to draw the number 3 with the heart and the flames on the Rivercourt ground! Imagine how you must feel when you've simply written "get well soon, Lucas!" and someone from your school turns up and draws a literal piece of art next to your message.

THE MOST AMERICAN MOMENT.

Though this is the kind of conversation that tends to awaken the angry socialist in me, I think we need to speak about the insurance situation. It's something that is always spoken about when the American medical system is questioned on the news or in documentaries, and it is absolutely wild to me that a nation would simply agree to turn up in sick patients' rooms and ask their relatives and loved ones for money or talk about their insurance. Imagine how much you must be worrying if your teenage son is in a coma, how stressed out you would be, and a well-meaning woman turns up to inform you your insurance doesn't cover this up, because, understandably, you never thought one of you would end up in this situation? It's a wonder how Karen stays this composed and almost calm in the face of all of this.

THE MOST 00s MOMENT

When Mouth, Junk, Fergie, Skills, and Jake are hanging out at the Rivercourt, missing Lucas and expecting good news from the hospital, Mouth decides to record a video for him on a video camera. I remember being what, ten, eleven, and wanting one of those so badly, even though they were really expensive, and I didn't have much to film. Owning a video camera, back in the day, felt like one of these things people did and made you think they were rich. They could FILM things. Obviously, nowadays, everyone can record the tiniest of events on their smartphones, which we basically all own, but back in the early 00s, you had to do it with a crunchy portable camera. (I still kinda want to have one.)

We see Brooke wearing two different outfits in I Shall Believe. At the start, she dons a short plaid skirt with a lilac sweater, and then, she has bootcut jeans and a burgundy off the shoulder jumper. The common ground between those two tops? The big flowers on the side of the neckline. Those were SO popular back at the start of the century. The bigger, the better. Who hasn't worn a jumper or top with an ugly flower, complete with tulle and ribbons, sewn to the side of the neckline? I'm pretty sure I had a few of those, and I'm not even sure I liked them. I'm glad we got rid of them. (Please, let's not bring this trend back.)

This episode largely revolves around relationships between the various characters, and I loved watching how their lives intertwined.

At the end of Hanging By A Moment, Nathan admitted to Haley that he had started chasing her to mess with Lucas, and never mind how much he tells her it's not about that anymore and he truly likes her, she will not budge, and she will not believe him. She refuses to talk to him, she stands up for herself, she does not take any shit from anyone, and she doesn't have the mental energy to think about her boyfriend when her best friend is lying unconscious in a hospital bed and the last thing she told him was "The next time you see me, don't talk to me!" The key to the resolution of their argument is found in Peyton, who encourages him not to give up and gives him advice. It leads Nathan to visit Lucas at the hospital, even though he is uncomfortable doing so, to talk about Haley and show up for her, in whatever way he can.

In I Shall Believe, we see the premice of a friendship between Nathan and Peyton. They broke up on bad terms and did not seem to have any relationship at all, anything that could survive from the wreck of their love story. However, even though they start awkwardly, they speak openly, and he even confides in her about his parents' divorce. It shows maturity and growth from both of them, and it also shows how they had something more than sex and making out in the back of Nathan's car- they just never knew what to do with it.

There is something special about the friendship between Haley and Peyton, and it feels entirely different from any other relationship in Peyton's life. Around Haley, she is more herself, and she is more open and vulnerable. The pair hang out on the rooftop of Karen's Café which, so far, has only been shown as Lucas and Haley's hangout place, and they have a very honest conversation. Haley forgives Peyton for the cheating, because "I know what it's like to need Lucas in your life," and, for the first time, Peyton confesses her feelings for Lucas and admits she is in love with him.

Their friendship strikes us as different, especially compared to Peyton and Brooke's friendship. We know the depth of their bond, and we know how much they love each other, but we mostly see their differences and lack of communication, at the moment. We watch Brooke visit Peyton at her house, and she is so deeply worried about Lucas' health and survival. She tries to convince Peyton to visit the hospital and thinks it's hard for her because she lost her mother in that same hospital. She's wrong, they are on different wavelengths, but it is evident that Brooke's heart is in the right place.

We also watch a moment dreaded by Brooke in the previous episode: meeting Karen. She had opened up to Lucas about not having a relationship with her own mother and thinking it would be great if she hit it off with his, but it does not start this way in I Shall Believe. We see some of Brooke's best sides: she is loving, caring, devoted to those she loves, and her heart is always in the right place, even when her delivery and execution are clumsy. She spends an evidently large amount of money in the gift shop, making Lucas' room friendlier, and she makes a board of happy memories she shared with Lucas, coasters and all, for him to have when he wakes up. As time passes, Karen, who seemed overwhelmed by the love displayed by Brooke, warms up to her, especially when she becomes more vulnerable and opens up her heart. It's hard to watch a teenage girl say "I think I could set myself on fire and my mom wouldn't notice." At the end of the day, Brooke is just a kid who needs to be seen and who needs to be loved, which is why bonding with her boyfriend's mother is important to her.

Some of my favourite relationships in the show involve Deb. She is just so unconditionally present in everyone's lives. As soon as she hears about the accident, she turns up at the hospital with good coffee for Karen and takes one part of the worries out of her mind by telling her she will take care of the café for as long as she needs and informing her of the good state of the business. She also visits Keith and cares about his side of the story, listens to his woes and what he has to say about how he waited all his life to tell Karen how he feels, and how it should have been the best day of his life. Deb is so supportive of everyone, regardless of what happens in her own life. She knows how to be a present friend and how to simply be here when others need it, she knows just what to do to support them in the most perfect way.

On the other side, we watch the end of her relationship with Dan unfold, and she is so mature about it. She wants a divorce but wants to pursue mediation and therapy, even though Dan wants to back out of it. She knows her right and immediately hires a lawyer when she says she will- she doesn't make empty threats. Even if the relationship hasn't worked out between them, she doesn't want drama or violence between them- she simply wants to protect herself and her son. Dan seems to try and bargain with Deb and ask for forgiveness, and tells her: "I'm asking you to remember when you were the one who needed forgiveness." The way he bargains with her makes one wonder if his feelings are genuine or if this divorce is yet another battle he needs to win, something he needs to be the best at.

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

Now that Lucas is awake and well, for the most part, we can wonder what's going to happen next. What's going to become of his relationships with Brooke and Peyton? The world has to start spinning again, eventually.